One for the road, two for the journey, three because they're really tasty.

Watching the documentary, "I am trying to break your heart" about the making of Wilco's album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and I have to say I just never gets old. I would be so lucky to live in Chicago where these giants live and play but here I am stuck in Portland where the biggest sighting of my life was the one I had was of former Portland coach Mo Cheeks by Pioneer Courthouse Square, yipee! But after reading so much about this period of time in the band's history it really brought home seeing those  vivid images of a band trying to create a masterpiece and how the process unfolds on screen of the destruction of the relationship between Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett. It's hard to believe that for all of us time will wear down our relationships, that they eventually will run their course. It's an icky part of this existence and as an optimist and one who values the profound effect people have on my life I want to deny that idea, but to a certain extent there is truth in that, in how life pulls you in different directions and you just move on. There are times in my life that I would deem pivotal or defining because they helped shape who I am today and as I examine those memories I see the players who still remain active and others who have simply faded out and to some degree it's never whom I would suspect, really it is all so fascinating. Back to the documentary and a feeling that I want to share though there is a caveat (of course) because through the advent of more sophisticated recording technologies which have become more accessible and has allowed an artist much more freedom to record as they please,  in general record companies stink, are afraid, and  shame on them. There is so much intellectual property that is fantastic and mind blowing and it's out there and the people who labor to lovingly create those pieces walk amongst us each day remaining hidden by the fact that some AR stiff won't take a chance in this jaded world where money is the decision maker. Well hey, I guess a brother has got to make a dime, too bad we will miss out on the beauty that is art all because Fiddy Cent needs to pad some fat cat's wallet with his next chart topper. I only hope that in the next few years we will see the way people interact with music expand to a point where I can drown out the noise that comes through my radio. Which reminds me of a discussion Brynn and I had the other day. It stemmed from a Portland Tribune article about a new innovation in the Sound Scan system that allows the ratings big wigs to track the actually listening habits of a person being monitored through a brand new doo hickey that recognizes the music playing from nearby radios, which has lead to a more accurate picture of which stations are actually top dog in the metro area. Before they had to log information on paper and pen but now with these devices the analysts are finding that those logs weren't entirely reliable and it's turning the charts upside down. The biggest pinch are being felt by public radio stations which general posted higher listener ratings because people tended to fudge results towards what they wanted to hear than what they actually heard throughout the day. What they tended to omit when reporting the numbers were all the ambient stations playing in the background while the worked, shopped, visited the dentist, etc. Thus KINK FM is getting a solid boost. Now to my point. When trying to explain to Brynn what kind of music KINK played, the discussion turned to older music and what would be played forty years from now? What will represent us and become our oldies? Will I be doomed to hear a DJ lead into another nauseating spin of "Hit me baby one more time" by Ms. Spears? Or would a revolution occur where I would be able to turn and dial and hear Jeff Tweedy serenade me with "California Stars"? Already I can get on demand music with an mp3 player and Sirius/XM does offer a broader array of music to choose from, throw in Last.fm and Pandora into the mix and life is generally great, that is until I get into a car. Will radio even continue to exist as the man behind the microphone introduces me to another Portland act during "All songs Considered"? I don't know, but after ten years of innovations in the way I get my music and the technologies that appear around me I can't help be excited and curious what lies around the corner in 2020, I guess i'll just have to live it to find out.

 PS I don't care about your political affiliation but you got to admit that looks like Obama has got the right taste in music.